Zach Hanson is a tech wizard, capable of creating and improving gadgets... including remote nuclear warhead launchers. But he's always known that he's destined for something more, something greater, something...supernatural.

Powerful Air Amazon Gina Himmel is one of four sisters called to protect the world from those who would do it harm. Demigods in league with an Ancient have been taking over the bodies of leaders in the military and technological sectors, and Gina is sent to San Francisco to watch over Zach.

Under Gina's protection, Zach is introduced to a world of ancient deities, rogue gods and the bold, brazen Amazons who keep humanity safe. Amidst the whirlwind of battle, Zach and Gina discover a love that could give them the power to save the world...or destroy it.

Guest Post

It’s so great to be at Share My Destiny to tell you about my latest book—The Brazen Amazon!

This is the third book in my Alliance of the Amazons urban fantasy
series. Although this book can stand alone, it might help readers new to my
stories to know a little bit about who and what the Amazons are. So I’m doing
something today I’ve only done a couple of times. I’m sharing the myth I wrote
of how the Amazons were created!

Here’s how four goddesses came together to mourn the death of the great
King Arthur and spawn a line of fantastic women warriors!

I hope you enjoy the story!

***

The Myth

538 A.D.

As the blade had thrust through
Arthur’s heart, Rhiannon’s own heart bled. Now, the Lady of the Lake stood on a
distant hill, staring down upon the carnage at Salisbury Plain. Rhiannon loved
these people, these warriors, these knights who had sworn their allegiance to
her Arthur. Aye, she loved them all. At least as much as a goddess could love
humans. She had offered them her benevolence, and their worship had fed her
powers.

A flash of light announced the
arrival of another Ancient. Rhiannon glanced to the Norse goddess Freya of Folkvang
who now stood at her side.

“See what she has wrought?” The
Lady of the Lake swept her arm out. “My own priestess!”

“Morgaine the witch?” Freya brushed
her long, white-blond hair over her shoulder.

“One and the same. She had no
right, Freya.”

“Aye, my friend. So much trouble in
this world caused by those who wish they could be one of our legion.”

Another flash of light brought the
Mayan goddess Ix Chel—another Rhiannon counted among her friends. Her dark eyes
scanned the bloody landscape as she fisted her hands at her sides.

“A shame. Such a waste of life,” Ix
Chel finally said with a shake of her head. “And your Arthur?”

“Dead. By the hand of his bastard
son.” Rhiannon closed her eyes and sighed. Then she opened them again to look
at Freya. “This must end. This senseless killing must end.”

“Aye, it must.” Freya gave a
decisive nod before her face grew pensive. “But how? Men are wont to kill men.
’Tis the way of the humans. Never happy with what they have, always seeking
more, more, more.”

“Not all their kind.” The
Indian goddess Ganga shimmered into place at Ix Chel’s side. “The human women
live in peace.”

Ix Chel and Freya murmured their
agreement.

Rhiannon’s hand swept out again,
showing Ganga the death upon Salisbury Plain. “See you my knights? ’Twas a
woman who caused this.”

“Not a woman,” Ganga
replied. “A witch. A force of evil in this world. The women, the human
women, are a gift. They love. They give. They survive. If only women could rule
the humans.”

“Nay,” Freya said, idly stroking
the brown fur trimming the sleeve of her long gown. “’Tis a foolish wish. They
have not the power. Men have the muscle, the strength. They shall always force
their will upon others. Women use their intelligence and compassion instead.”

“Just as goddesses are more
benevolent than gods,” Ix Chel added.

Her friends murmured their
agreement, but Rhiannon didn’t bother to correct that misassumption. She’d
encountered too many goddesses over the millennia who were more than willing to
prove they could be every bit as ruthless as the gods.

“’Tis a shame,” she finally said,
“that we cannot give their women the power of their men and force their men to
be the caretakers of their children. Aye, let them labor to bring those
children into the world. All the men do is receive the pleasure of the mating
act. The women suffer the consequences.”

“That would be wonderful,” Ganga
said with a grin. “A bit of justice such as a poet would impose.”

“Hmm,” Freya said, laying a finger
against her cheek. “Perhaps…”

Rhiannon stared at Freya, knowing
the way her friend’s mind worked. “You are about mischief again.”

A smile broke out on Freya’s face.
“We may not be able to give all the women the strength of men…” Her
voice faded as her smile grew even brighter. “Perhaps we can give that power to
some of the women.”

Ganga clapped her hands as she
seemed to warm to the idea. “Not women. Warriors. Women of impeccable
character who have the heart and courage to do the right thing, even when it is
the most difficult thing to do.”

Ix Chel smiled as well. “Women who
will guard against the men who would rule in our stead.”

“Not merely men, but against all
who would rule in our place,” Rhiannon said. “Aye. I will make such a warrior.
No, several warriors. At least one in each generation. One whose heart is bound
to my Earth.” The more her mind worked, the more Rhiannon felt the weight of
her great loss ease. “I shall give her skills and magicks with which to destroy
those who try to usurp the power of the Ancients. She shall make the ground
move as she wishes, creating earthquakes with naught but her will. She shall
have domain over the land and it will do her bidding. She will live a very long
life, should she not die in battle. Longer than mere mortals. And she shall be
replaced by another woman of my Earth upon her death.”

“I could add a warrior with my
benevolence and grant her the power of Fire,” Freya offered. “She may use
flames as her weapon and change into one of my beloved hawks to search the
heavens for trouble.” Freya gave Rhiannon an affectionate cuff on the shoulder.
“Aye. A marvelous idea, my friend. A duo of women who could hunt down
troublesome demigods.”

“And witches. Perhaps even demons,”
Ix Chel added. “Not a duo. A trio. I shall give one of these remarkable
women the power of my sky. The power to use Air for her will, to know not the
confines of gravity. She may harness the strength of a storm, and she shall
rain down lightning as a weapon.”

“And my beloved river,” Ganga said,
“shall flow through the veins of my Water. She shall swim as the
mermaids, control the waters with her heart and heal the other warriors who
fight at her side, just as the sacred Ganges heals those who worship me.”

Freya frowned. “’Twould be unfair
to those we call. I had not thought of the sacrifice we would be asking of
these warriors.”

“Aye,” Rhiannon said. “They are
sure to die in battle.”

“They must not have children,”
Ganga added. “Bearing children would keep them confined while the child grows
inside them, and a family could easily be used against them, held as hostages
to bend our warriors to a demon’s will.”

Rhiannon sighed. “They will
sacrifice much in the cause to protect our people and receive little in
return.” She snapped her fingers and the ground rumbled in response to her
emotions. “We should gift them with something to ease the pain that they cannot
be mothers.”

“Gift them?” Ix Chel asked,
knitting her brows.

“Since they shall fight like men,” Rhiannon
said, “they should love like men. They may take lovers where they choose, when
they choose.”

“’Tis a wicked thought, that they
may lie with any man,” Freya said with laughter in her voice, “as if they are
Ancients, loving freely and often.”

“But it is truly a fitting gift.”
Ix Chel maintained her typically sober tone. “To aid in their pleasure, no
sickness shall infect them. Let them find their amusements where they may for
they will be like the shooting stars in my sky. Bright and brilliant but, with
the battles they face, sometimes not long for this world.”

Rhiannon held out her hand, her
palm facing her beloved Earth. “Then a pact we have made here today. Four
women, gleaned from each generation should evil befall the humans, who will
work for the good of humanity and protect them from those who would destroy
them.”

“And we,” Ganga said, letting her
gaze fall on each of the goddesses, “shall be allies from this day. Our
warriors—”

“Our Amazons,” Rhiannon
interrupted with a bold smirk.

Freya laughed. “You are challenging
Artemis by using the name of her warriors, my friend. Will you two forever be
at odds?”

“Aye,” Rhiannon drawled. “Until she
learns who the more powerful Ancient is, we shall. Her arrogance sits like a
thistle under my skin. So I shall take the name of her women for my own.”

“So be it,” Ganga replied. “Our Amazons
will have our benevolence. Earth, Fire, Air and Water.”

“But who shall train them?” Ix Chel
asked.

“I shall provide a man,” Rhiannon
replied, “a great warrior such as my Arthur who shall answer to us for the
training and care of our chosen women.”

“You know such men?” Freya asked.
“Men like your knights who lie on Salisbury Plain are not plentiful.”

Rhiannon glanced back to her fallen
warriors, those who had followed her Arthur to his death. “Nay, not plentiful,
but I know of such men. They call to me in tragedy, asking my help when one
they love has fallen. I shall answer the right one and place him as the soldier
to show our Amazons the way. He shall be a gatekeeper to a home I will provide.
A Sentinel to guard over a new Avalon.”

“What gifts shall you give to him,
this warrior who nobly sacrifices his future for one he loves?” Freya asked.

Rhiannon replied with a haughty
smile. “I shall give them the greatest gift that comes from my Earth.
Immortality.”

Ix Chel shook her head. “No, you mustn’t.
The other Ancients would surely resent such a gift. He must have a weakness, as
each demigod or demon has a weakness.”

“As even we each have a weakness,”
Ganga added. “He is, after all, still a mere human.”

Rhiannon agreed, although she hated
constraints being put on her magicks. As one of the most powerful of all the
Ancients, she shouldn’t have to bow to the wishes of the legion. But the anger
of the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t fall to her—it would fall to the
Amazons. “I relent to your wishes. A blade piercing his heart can cost him his
life.”

“We shall shield each other.”
Ganga’s words stilled the goddesses for a few moments.

“Each other?” Ix Chel broke the
silence.

With her typical caution, Ganga
added, “For the other Ancients will be angered at our interference.”

Rhiannon nodded. “From this day
forth, we four shall stand firm, protecting our Amazons and each other so that
we may all protect the world.”

Four divine voices joined in power
and in pledge, changing the fate of humanity. “So be it!”

***

Thanks so much for hosting my guest
blog for my Brazen Amazon Book Tour!

About the Author:

Sandy lives in a quiet suburb of Indianapolis with her husband of thirty years and is a high school social studies teacher. She and her husband own a small stable of harness racehorses and enjoy spending time at the two Indiana racetracks.

The Alliance of the Amazons urban fantasy series from Carina Press has premiered with book 1, The Reluctant Amazon, book 2, The Impetuous Amazon, and book 3, The Brazen Amazon. The series concludes with book 4, The Volatile Amazon, in September.

Look for a new contemporary romance series from Grand Central Forever Yours in 2013/2014!